UNITED NATIONS Zambia Humanitarian Country Team Situation Report No. 4 – Zambia floods – 24 March 2008 HIGHLIGHTS The flood waters are receding in many areas, although there has been renewed flooding in Kafue and Mazabuka due to the opening of the Itezhi-Tezhi dam spill gates. High rainfall is expected over the coming weeks in Northern, North- Western and Copperbelt Provinces. The Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) is monitoring the situation and has received reports that Mbala District has experienced heavy rains over the past six days. Furthermore, a VAC team has been sent to Serenje and Kapiri Mposhe to verify reports of heavy flooding there. Situation Overview Shelter & Settlement Sector Lead: IOM A new camp of approximately 600 people has been set The flood waters are receding in many areas. up by the Zambia Red Cross (ZRC) in Kanyanya in Renewed flooding has been reported in Kafue and Kafue district. ZRC is providing shelter and Mazabuka, due to the opening of the Itezhi-Tezhi dam establishing water and sanitation facilities in the camp. spill gates. The Disaster Management and Mitigation They are also assisting affected populations in Monze Unit (DMMU) reports high rainfall is expected over the and Kazungula districts, planning to provide shelter coming weeks in Northern, North-Western and and watsan services for a total of 2,000 households. Copperbelt Provinces. The DMMU is monitoring the situation, reporting that Mbala District (Northern The sector has acknowledged the need to get a better Province) has received heavy rains over the past six overview of who is doing what where. In the sector days. A Vulnerability Assessment Committee (VAC) coordination meeting it was agreed that IOM will team has been sent to Serenje and Kapiri Mposhi in contact and request agencies to submit information on Central Province to verify reports of heavy flooding. what they have done and where, so that the Early indications are that assistance will also be information can be collated and gaps identified. needed in these districts. Education Sector The VAC Rapid Assessment report is complete, and Sector Lead: UNICEF the details are expected to be released by the DMMU The Ministry of Education has disbursed 10 billion shortly. The VAC teams have assessed the situation in Kwacha (US$ 2.77 million) to affected districts country- 32 districts across all nine provinces. Addendums to wide, to use to replace/repair the roofs of schools. The the report are expected from Central and Western money was disbursed to 194 schools across all nine Provinces in the coming days. provinces. The Government has so far responded by distributing Next week UNICEF will be distributing emergency food and non-food items in 2 camps in Kazungula, 22 education supplies to the Ministry of Education, and camps in Monze, 7 camps in Mazabuka, 1 camp in facilitating their delivery to twenty schools affected by Mumbwa, 2 camps in Namwala and in Itezhi-Tezhi and the flooding. The supplies include: recreation kits, Nyimba. Supplies are also on the way to Kafue, and moveable chalk boards, tents and 58 school-in-a-box. chlorine, lime and mosquito nets have been distributed in Solwezi. Furthermore, the Government has provided CAMFED will be distributing 40 million kwacha as funds to the districts of Siavonga, Sinazongwe, safety net funds to its partner schools; 13 in Mumbwa, Namwala, Monze, Lusaka and Nyimba to Shangombo district and 8 in Sesheke. Each of these help with the relief and recovery effort, and has schools will receive 2 million Kwacha on 25 March. distributed tents in Mazabuka, Monze, Namwala and Kazungula. DMMU are inputting data on government ZOCS has made a request to help set up a temporary response into the response tracking matrix in order to community school in Kazungula-Kasaya Camp to meet help in identifying gaps. the needs of children in grades 1-2. ZOCS will liaise with the Provincial Education Officer in Southern ZESCO, the national hydro-electrical service, reports Province to offer this support. that water levels in the Kafue Flats and Kafue Gorge reservoir are high. The flats currently have high Agriculture and Food Security reservoir levels and as a result complaints from Kafue Sector Lead: FAO Fisheries have increased. ZESCO expects the Approximately 65,000 households have experienced increased spillage at Kafue Gorge to raise the water crop-losses ranging from 20 to 80% due to the floods. levels downstream. About 20,000 of these households are in areas conducive for dry season cropping, and would be able to benefit from this if inputs are timely provided. Humanitarian Response 1 The DMMU and the WFP are in consultation to official request from the District Health Management commence distributions in 13 affected districts, Team has been received by UNICEF for 90 boxes of through food for assets and/or food for work activities liquid and 45 kg of granular chlorine, together with that will include: water harvesting, canal clearing in requirements for latrine construction materials. areas with potential for winter-cropping, road UNICEF is preparing the supplies for distribution within rehabilitation, farming activities including conservation the next two weeks. Further WASH supplies (e.g. farming and supplementary feeding for malnourished chlorine, lime, jerry cans etc) will also be distributed to children under 5. A strong emphasis in capacity other UNICEF partners within the next two weeks. building for Government in the areas of disaster response, targeting and monitoring will be incorporated UNICEF, through Programme for Sustainable Rural into the response. WFP’s ongoing food distributions in Development (PSRD), an NGO based in Southern Western Province (Kalabo, Lukulu, Senanga and Province, has undertaken the laying down of water Mongu Districts) are assisting 104,000 beneficiaries pipes from a water point located approximately 600m (18,000 households). Over 3,250 MTs have been from the Kazungula IDP camp. Four tap stands have provided to date. been erected, and a hygiene education exercise in the camp has commenced. WFP are reporting a shortfall of US$ 3.6 million to provide immediate food support for three months. The UNICEF Emergency WASH Co-ordinator is in the Overall, WFP is facing a total food shortfall of 24,500 process of establishing key emergency partners, both metric tonnes valued at US$14.8 million from now to current and new, for future emergency preparedness December 2008. Cereals will run out in mid June, and response. UNICEF has further equipment and Pulses in July, Oil in May and fortified blended food materials in stock (including collapsible water (HEPS) in September. containers, water tanks, pumps, purification tablets, purification tablets and squatting plates) and would like Health, Nutrition and HIV/AIDS to identify NGOs working on the ground to distribute Sector Lead: UNICEF the supplies. For any enquiries about these supplies Lusaka district continues to report cases of cholera in please contact: Francis Ndivoh [email protected] the settlements of Chipata, Chaisa, and George Zone 3, Matero and Kanyama (Chibolya and Zone 6). 111 Logistics patients have been attended to between January 28 Sector Lead: WFP and March 5. Information regarding damaged roads and infrastructure in North-Western Province has been Fears of a nutritional crisis in the wake of widespread gathered and posted on the Logistics Cluster website. crop destruction are well-founded and accelerated See: www.logcluster.org/zmb08a action is required to ensure strengthened nutrition monitoring and capacity to treat an expected increased caseload of children with acute malnutrition over the Coordination coming months. UNICEF is planning a nutrition assessment in flood affected areas for the end of April/beginning of May and discussions are ongoing to A matrix to track the needs, gaps and response to the find NGO partners to take part. For further information floods has been developed by the Information please contact Jouni Hemberg, [email protected] Management Officer at the RCO and DMMU. The format is being reviewed by the sectors, and data is Protection being gathered from the government, UN agencies Sector Lead: UNICEF and NGOs. Data detailing what the government has UNICEF is organising a training of trainers workshop distributed where is being inputted by DMMU into the on protection. The aim is to target relief workers from matrix in order to begin the gap analysis. all sectors and sensitise them on protection issues. There are still protection concerns in the tented camps, where overcrowding is increasing the risk of sexual abuse and people are complaining of lack of privacy. For more information, please contact: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) • Mwiinga Cheelo, UN Coordination Officer, Sector Lead: UNICEF Tel: +260966120021, As rains and flood waters subside, the risk of [email protected] outbreaks of diarrhoea, cholera and malaria remain high due to widespread contamination of water • Gry Hjeltnes, UN Humanitarian Officer, sources, stagnant water, use of unsafe water sources Tel: +260979743481, and a lack of sanitation facilities, compounded by [email protected] extremely poor hygiene in IDP camps. • Fay Mahdi, UN Information Management The Ministry of Health Monitoring Officer in Choma Officer, Tel: +260976587395, District (Southern Province) has reported that on 17 [email protected] and 18 March there were continuous rains in Choma district and that the water levels are again rising. An 2.